Shatter
by MzShellSan
Summary: What would happen if in the first scene, Mori's morals refused to allow Haruhi to pay for the vase that broke because she was being backed into a corner against her will and instead paid for it instead? Written for Day 6 of my writing challenge.


**30 Day Writing Challenge**

**Day Six:** Shatter

**Fandom:** Ouran High School Host Club

**Pairing:** Takashi Morinozuka/Haruhi Fujioka

**Disclaimer: **I do not own OHSHC.

**Shatter**

**-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Everything happened almost too quickly when Haruhi bumped into the pedestal, adrenaline running through her body as she tried to stay away from this so called Host Club "King" who was so eager to disregard her personal space , touching her without permission like it was something that was acceptable.

Her eyes flickered to the ground and around the room, sounds muffled as she tried to breathe deeply and not panic at the sight of the shattered pieces of porcelain on the floor.

"Aww, now you've gone and done it. That rune vase was supposed to be featured in the school auction." Hikaru informed, amused by the reactions they were getting from the normally silent and composed honour student.

"What are we going to do? We were going to start the bidding at eight million yen." Kaoru tacks on, sighing and shaking his head in false disappointment.

The numbers flashed in Haruhi's head as she tried to figure out immediately just how many payments that was. Ridiculous, was the conclusion she came to.

"I'm going to have to pay you back..." She trailed off, body still on edge, all of her senses screaming for her to get out of the room and as far away from these people as she could. They were insane. She would never understand rich people.

"How are you meant to do that when you can't even afford the school uniform?" The twins spoke at the same time, condescension clear in their tones and making Haruhi bristle, panic forgotten for the moment.

"I'll figure it out. I'm assuming you know where to find me, Kyoya-senpai. If you'll excuse me, I have some money to go organise." Haruhi informed briskly before turning heel and leaving the room before anyone could say another word.

The twins pouted, immediately bored again before turning to find something else to do.

From off to the side of the room, Honey-senpai tugged gently on Mori's uniform sleeve making the quiet member look down at his cousin.

"That wasn't very nice, was it Takashi?" He commented, voice a little sad at the scene he'd witnessed. He cared for his friends, but there were times when they were a little bit mean.

It wasn't like that vase was all that important after all.

Mori only grunted in response, but something about the way that he'd looked at the door after Haru-chan had left gave the older boy hope for his cousin. It was time that he found someone else to look out for other than Honey-senpai.

Despite the incident however, hosting continued as normal for the rest of the afternoon and by the end it seemed that Tamaki and the twins had already completely forgotten everything that had happened.

The same could not be said for Takashi who waited until the room was almost empty to get a chance to speak with Kyoya.

Giving his cousin a knowing look, Honey smiled brightly. "I'll wait for you in the car, okay Takashi?"

He would just go home on his own but that was moving a little too fast for his friend. Baby steps.

Mori grunted, waiting for the door to click shut before he walked over to Kyoya who was beginning to pack his things up.

"Mori-senpai. What can I do for you?"

"I'll pay."

If it was anyone else, they would have been confused, but Kyoya Ootori was not anyone else. Pushing up his glasses, he tried to understand where Mori was coming from, what he would gain from this, before giving up and shrugging.

"If you're sure." He said finally. "I'll await your transaction. I'm assuming it will be complete tonight?"

Mori grunted in assent, before turning and leaving the room, content now that the problem was solved.

But who would tell the honour student?

Frowning further, Takashi sighed internally. He'd have to do it himself the next time they were in school. At least she would be easy enough to find. He knew the twins were in her class and he knew where their first class was.

_'Tomorrow.'_ He decided, before slipping into the car with Mitsukini and grunting when he asked if everything had gone fine.

"I think we should visit Haru-chan and make sure that she's okay tomorrow." Honey informed, easily understanding what his cousin wouldn't know how to request.

Mori smiled a little, grateful, before nodding.

The first plan was in place.

The next day left Haruhi with the sinking feeling that it was going to be harder than she thought to pay off the debt for that vase. Not impossible, but definitely detrimental to her own studying. Thus far her father had no problems supporting them and making enough money to keep them going, but if they were to pay off an 80 000 yen vase, she'd have to pick up a part-time job.

That of course meant getting permission from the school board to be able to take up paid work, and then proving that she could keep her studies up while juggling said job which wouldn't be an ideal situation, but she'd have to make do.

Sighing, she stepped into her home room and took her seat, ignoring the twins on either side of her easily enough and pulling out her notebooks to get some extra study in before classes started.

Or at least that was her plan.

"Haru-chan!"

The brunette's head snapped up at the sound of her name being called like that, eyebrows furrowing when she spotted the third-year duo that had been in the club room yesterday.

Sighing, she pushed herself away from the desk and walked over to the door, ignoring the stares she was getting from her classmates with practised ease.

"Look Takashi, she heard me." Honey pointed out excitedly as he stepped out of the doorway so that they could talk in the hall.

There was a grunt of agreement.

Wracking her brains, Haruhi tried to remember their names. Mori-senpai and honey-senpai?

"Can I help you?" She asked, not seeing a reason to beat around the bush when they could get this over with.

Honey pouted a little at the no-nonsense attitude but brightened immediately after, flowers seeming to float in the air around him.

"We just wanted to stop by and say 'hi'. We're sorry for how everyone treated you yesterday. Takashi paid for the vase so you don't need to worry about it at all, kay?"

It took Haruhi a moment to comprehend the words before her eyes went wide.

"You did what?" She managed to choke out finally, looking over at the taller man to direct her question.

He just shrugged a shoulder slightly in response making her sigh.

"You didn't need to do that. I would have figured something out." She insisted, still a little shocked.

Honey giggled a little. Haru-chan was so cute.

"Wasn't your fault." Mori said finally.

Haruhi didn't argue against that. She knew exactly whose fault it had been. "Not yours either." She pointed out.

Honey giggled as her cousin shrugged a shoulder again.

Sighing, Haruhi rubbed her temples to stave off the oncoming headache.

"And what do you want in exchange?"

Honey titled his head in confusion, a similar look appearing on Mori's face.

Shaking her head, Haruhi gave them a pointed look. "I've learnt that no-one in this school gives anything for free. And even if this _was_ some form of no strings attached debt payment, I'd rather not have it weighing on my conscious. So, what do you want in exchange?"

Mori frowned. "80 000 yen is pocket change for us. I don't need anything." He insisted finally.

Huffing, Haruhi crossed her arms and looked up at him with an unwavering gaze. "Then consider things like this. You have done me a favour and I am now in your debt whether you acknowledge it or not. I'm honour bound to do something equal to make up for the service you've done for me. Please choose something." She insisted.

Watching his cousin struggle, Mitsukini couldn't help but grin wider. Without meaning to, Haru-chan had just increased the pace of his plans exponentially.

"Haru-chan could help with the clean up at Judo and Kendo club?" He suggested, looking up at Takashi with wide eyes.

Mori hesitated. He didn't want to make the honour student do anything, but it was hard to argue against her fierce determination. Being honour bound was an idea that he understood well and it felt wrong to ignore that the concept did apply in this situation.

"Fine." He agreed, exasperation clear in his eyes for anyone that cared to look closer.

Haruhi nodded, feeling relieved to finally have a solution to her problem. "In that case I will see you both at kendo and judo?"

Nodding, Honey grinned widely. "Of course. We have kendo on Wednesday afternoons and judo on Friday afternoons." He informed.

Haruhi nodded, noting the information. At least she knew where the dojo was. Today was Tuesday so it would be tomorrow when she saw them again. And giving up a couple of hours on two afternoons a week was much easier to juggle than an entire work schedule.

Noticing the teacher walking towards the classroom, Haruhi gave them a small smile. "Thank you. I'll see you both tomorrow afternoon. You'd better hurry if you don't want to be late to class." She pointed out, waving to them as she heading back inside and took up her seat.

Ignoring the other students she couldn't help but be in a good mood, situation lifted off her shoulders.

_'Maybe all rich people aren't the same after all.' _She admitted to herself.

The rest of the day seemed to fly by and before either Mori or Haruhi knew it, it was Wednesday afternoon and he was getting ready to go to kendo, having been released from class ten minutes early so that he could get to club before anyone else.

"Do you think Haru-chan knows where to go?" Mitsukini asked, titling his head in worry and trying not to smirk at the small show of concern that flashed on Takashi's face.

"She'll be fine."

Honey pouted. Why did his cousin have to be so stubborn?

"You should go get her just in case. I can get things ready, just this once." He suggested, looking up with wide eyes.

Narrowing his eyes, Mori tried to follow the thoughts that were running through Mitsukini's head but found himself unable to understand what was going on. But despite knowing that something was a ploy – even if he didn't know the _why_ yet – he found himself unable to refuse the almost-order.

"Just this once." He grunted, giving his cousin a stern look before he turned to head towards Haruhi's last class to grab her.

Honey giggled, not in the least worried by Takashi's knowing look before turning and skipping towards the dojo, more excited than ever to attend kendo.

Haruhi sighed in relief when the majority of class had left the room finally, rushing out like being in school for a moment longer was going to kill them.

Rolling her eyes, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door, stepping out and turning right to start heading towards the dojo only to almost bump into a familiar, tall boy.

Stumbling back, she blinked when she felt herself being righted quickly, preventing the tumble she'd been prepared for.

"Thank you." She said, manners on autopilot before the situation started to make sense and she titled her head at Mori-senpai. Was it just her imagination or did he look a little amused?

Shaking that thought from her head, she focused on more important matters. "Why are you here Mori-senpai? I was just about to head over to the dojo and I would have seen you there..."

Mori gave her a look in an attempt to convey his meaning, offering to take her bag.

Shaking her head, Haruhi smiled to soften her refusal. "It's fine, I'm capable of carrying my own things." She insisted, tightening her hold on the bag just in case.

Even though it didn't feel right, Mori let it go, starting off in the direction of the dojo at a slow pace so that Haruhi could keep up with her shorter legs.

"You're here to help me find the dojo then? I did have some idea of where to do, but it occurred to me later that this damned school might have more than one dojo." She informed him.

Mori's lips twitched slightly and he nodded.

"I thought so. In that case, thank you for the escort."

The rest of the walk passed in silence, and before Haruhi knew it they were standing in front of a very different dojo to the one that she'd been preparing to go to.

Watching curiously, she observed as Mori opened the door and stepped into the dojo, bowing when he entered as a sign of respect and immediately removing his shoes.

Following suit, Haruhi also bowed in an attempt to be respectful and took her own shoes off.

"Study." Mori stated- pointing towards an area off to the side.

If she was going to insist on helping out then he could at least give her a semi-quiet place to work before clean up.

Haruhi smiled and nodded. "Alright. Thank you, senpai."

Mori watched as she padded over to the corner quietly, absently noting that her posture and quiet movements would be perfect for martial arts, before shaking the thought away. It was time to focus on kendo now.

"Hi, Haru-chan!"

The sudden call of her name breaking her from her work was quickly becoming something that she was getting used to, jolting out of the equation she had been trying to solve.

"Hello, senpai." She greeted, voice much softer, but she couldn't help but smile at his attitude. "Is it time to finish up already?"

Honey nodded. "Yup. Takashi and will show you how clean up usually goes. Thanks for helping out, it'll make everything run even smoother."

Haruhi shook her head, packing her things into her bag before leaving it in the corner. "It's fine. I'm more than willing to help out. I owe Mori-senpai." She reminded.

Pouting, Honey wanted to huff at her bold response. It wasn't like he had expected anything other than Haru-chan being debt bound right now though, so he let it go, instead focussing on showing her around the dojo with enthusiasm an demonstrating how to clean up and where everything went.

Picking up one of the _shinai_ from the ground, she tilted her head at it.

Noting her interest, Mori padded over to her, standing nearby but not touching her.

He nodded towards her hands in request when he finally got her attention.

"You want to show me how to hold it properly?" Haruhi guessed, quickly becoming accustomed to his tendency to use gestures as opposed to words.

Mori nodded.

Haruhi smiled. "Sure." She agreed, loosening her grip and letting the bigger hands dwarf over her own, adjusting her grip and showing her how to hold it correctly.

She picked it easy enough and grinned. "Thanks, senpai."

Mori shook his head, lips twitching. "Would you like to learn?" He offered.

Biting her lip, Haruhi shook her head sadly. "I'm not against it, but I don't have the time for hobbies right now..." She trailed off.

Understanding, Mori couldn't help but place a gentle hand on her head, similar to how he did whenever Mitsukini was upset, and shook his head to show he wasn't sad.

"If you ever change your mind." He offered.

Haruhi smiled softly, nodding in agreement.

From across the room, Honey grinned at the sight of his cousin getting along so well and openly with someone else, satisfied that step two had been going so well.

Now all he had to do was convince Haruhi that it was a good idea to pick up kendo and he could progress to step three.

But they had plenty of time to get that far. They barely knew each other and Honey was just as keen to get to know Haru-chan. There was something about the way she'd spoken of being duty bound that made him wonder what kind of life she'd had until now.

Perhaps, it was time to investigate.


End file.
